


carry me home, and lead me to you

by goomyfish



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-28
Updated: 2019-10-28
Packaged: 2021-01-06 00:43:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21217736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goomyfish/pseuds/goomyfish
Summary: Galo nods, savoring each word as it falls from Lio’s rosy lips. He has no name for the feeling that blazes through his chest as he listens, igniting honey-gold sparks down to the marrow of his bones. Acid reflux, maybe? They did have a lot of pizza today.





	carry me home, and lead me to you

"Home is something you’ve gotta make for yourself, I think."

Lio blinks, staring at Galo from across the campfire. In melancholy gold and soft sunset glow his eyes shine, catching the light like stardust on a teal sea. His nose scrunches up, and he averts his gaze. "You're telling me," he huffs, stabbing another marshmallow onto the end of a twig. "Before now, that was every day of my life."

"Huh? Oh," Galo rubs the back of his neck. “Y-yeah, guess that’s true. Must’ve been hard out there.”

“Hm.” Lio’s bitter smile flickers in the sparse light of flames that no longer speak to him. “What were you going to say?”

“Was I sayin- oh! Yeah. For me it’s like Burning Rescue is my family, y’know? Cap’n Ignis, Aina, Remi, Varys, Lucia… they’re the ones I call my own.” He shovels two crispy, over-toasted marshmallows into his face at the same time, smearing sticky fluff all over his nose and mouth. “Ish wike, we aww rewy on eash opher-”

“Chew your damn food, Galo! Please,” Lio grimaces, touching a gloved hand to his forehead. “You’ll choke, and I’m not about to clean you up afterward.”

“Yesh you wud.”

“Ugh.”

Resting his chin in his hand, Lio looks out on the horizon — far away are the crags and peaks of the desert, jutting like razors through the faint purple fog. So far away from the silicon towers and blue skies that color his bright, new life. “Mad Burnish… we weren’t related to each other, either.” Lio murmurs, his eyes trailing back to look at Galo’s marshmallowy face. “Meis and Guiera accepted me when I found them, and so did the others. That was all it took. We came from nothing — little more than rags and what remained of our dignity. But together, we were something for the very first time.”

Galo nods, savoring each word as it falls from Lio’s rosy lips. He has no name for the feeling that blazes through his chest as he listens, igniting honey-gold sparks down to the marrow of his bones. Acid reflux, maybe? They did have a lot of pizza today.

“You heard about what happened from Kray,” Galo says, prying his eyes away from Lio’s face. “When we… y’know. Right?”

It’s a cold day in Promepolis that Galo is so vulnerable, so sincere. Lio watches him intently, studying the way he looks down into the flames with heavy-lidded eyes. “I remember. He started the fire that cost you everything.” He finds it difficult to look at him much longer. “You must have truly hated us Burnish for that.”

“No! Never,” he jolts upright. “It wasn’t anybody’s fault. Even knowing what I do now. Still wasn’t his fault.” Even if it could be proven that his Promare-fueled outburst was intentional, the man will be behind bars for far greater crimes. “Just like it was never your fault, Lio. I don’t buy into that for a minute. Sure, it was tough when I was a kid, but I never wanted to be that kinda man. I help myself when I help other people.” He smiles goofishly, patting his chest. “Can’t hold grudges if I wanna do that, right?”

Such a simple creature. Even if it was indeed Kray Foresight's fault, Lio can’t help but smile. “You’re a fool, Galo. But it suits you.”

“Aww, thanks. But, uh, the point is… I didn’t get to have parents like everybody else. Him and Captain Ignis pretty much raised me — the city raised me. And I guess I owe the city some love, for all it’s given me. So I decided that Burning Rescue would be home, for me.”

“I see.”

To think that Galo’s instinct is to love and love, to love so recklessly that it nearly costs him his life each day… Lio’s gaze softens. If only his hollowed heart had room left in its core for anything but frothing, bubbling rage. 

“And it’s like you said,” Galo continues. “Nobody in Mad Burnish had to be related by blood to care about each other. Nah, if you ask me? The strongest families are the ones you pick for yourself.” Grinning, he reaches across the fire to give Lio’s shoulder a playful punch. “That’s why we’re here today, even with the odds stacked way up high against us. Right?”

Lio’s lips part as he searches for words where there are none. Why do his eyes sting now, so long after the last of his tears had dried up in the desert sun? “Galo,” he says, keeping his wavering voice level. “I’ve been wanting to tell you…"

Galo meets his gaze, eyes shining, voice breathless. “Yeah?” 

Snorting, Lio reaches out and smacks a hand against Galo’s cheek. 

“Your face is still covered in food. Get a napkin, for crying out loud.”

_ “Lioooooo! _ Why’d you have to go and ruin the moment?!”

“What ‘moment’? Don’t make me pin you down and wipe it off myself!”

Their squabbling turns to distant laughter and shouting in the cool evening air, silhouettes tackling each other by the light of the firepit. Through binoculars, Lucia snickers. “Heheh, Lio got him!”

“Got him?” Remi pipes up from under a bush, peeking through the leaves. Varys sits crouched beside him, but despite his best efforts, it’s not very effective in hiding his bulky frame. “What does that mean, exactly?”

“It means you owe me five bucks, is what it means!”

“C’mon, pipe down you two,” Varys whispers. “They’ll hear us!”

Aina stands a little ways away from the group, arms crossed over her chest. Though she’s not keen on eavesdropping, she can’t help giggling at the sight of Galo getting thrown to the ground by a man who looks like a twig next to him.

_ Seems like he’s finally found somebody to call home. _

**Author's Note:**

> just a little something to get the Promare juices in my brain Activated. might post more?


End file.
